“Shrek,” a staple film of Millenial and Gen Z children’s childhoods, has recently been confirmed by Dreamworks Pictures to be receiving a new sequel. The popular animation studio announced they were coming out with “Shrek 5,” and that the film is set to be released on Dec. 23, 2026. 

There has been a wide range of responses to the film based on the trailer, and many people are expressing their unhappiness with what has been seen so far. 

The series continues

The director, Andrew Adamson will be the same director who was the writer and artist for “Shrek 2,” “Shrek the Third,” and was the head of the story on “Shrek Forever and After.” The newest addition to the series will take place approximately ten years after “Shrek Forever After.”

So far there hasn’t been much information on “Shrek 5” since it is still in progress, but it is known that the original voice actors will be coming back. 

After the release of the trailer, fans learned that Zendaya will be starring in the movie as the voice of Felicia, Shrek and Fiona’s daughter. They still have yet to release information on any other characters and voice actors that might be in the movie, so it is unclear what old characters may return or new ones will be introduced.

“Shrek 5” was originally going to be released after the “Shrek 2” (2004) film, however, the former DreamWorks CEO, Jeffrey Katzenberg, decided after the “Shrek Forever After” movie that the plans for a fifth movie were off the table. 

Eventually, the discussion of another “Shrek” film resurfaced in 2014; it was at this point that Universal Pictures confirmed they were in the process of making another movie. 

Public response to the trailer

Recently, Universal Pictures came out with a trailer showing the cast and some of the new animation. Many people are unhappy with it since the characters don’t look the way they did in the previous movies. 

“It looks boring and uninteresting,” Madisyn Giles, a junior at BHS, said.

Despite this, some still intend to watch the new film since they’ve stuck with the series this far.

“I’ll watch it just to find out what happened to Shrek after all these years,” Alondra, a BHS sophomore, said.

Others have also been saying that Shrek and Fiona look “scary,” and others have been making predictions about the movie. 

Some online commentary includes their belief that the movie looks like it could be about the life of Felicia, who is now a teenager, meaning this movie could be completely different than the previous movies. The possibility of the series taking a new path leaves many fans anxious but eager for the movie to come out.

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